The views of parents, teachers and other stakeholders about the short-term effects of screening for intellectual disability in mainstream schools.

Background: Some children attending mainstream schools in the United Kingdom may not have their intellectual disability recognised.

Aim: To evaluate the short-term impact of using the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q) to screen for intellectual disability in mainstream schools.

Method: Twenty-six people (15 parents, 6 teachers, 5 other stakeholders) completed an online questionnaire about the benefits and drawbacks of using the CAIDS-Q.

Findings: The main benefits were: helping to identify those who were not previously known to have intellectual disability; providing an indication of the child’s level of functioning; and increasing awareness of intellectual disability. Few potential disadvantages were identified, although comments were made about the ability of wider services to support the needs of those with intellectual disability.

Conclusion: Conducting screening in mainstream schools, using the CAIDS-Q appears to have resulted in benefits for most participants who were identified as likely to have an intellectual disability.